scrapbooking: the 'today' album

Made a 3-page album as a birthday gift, my largest project to-date.
I had a very nice paper as the background so I did try to make it stand out with the other visual elements I wanted to incorporate (as inspired by previous pictures.) So it was quite a challenge trying hard not to cover the lovely words up!

Colors used are sea-green, cream, bronze, black, with yellow and magenta highlights.
Was unsure of this wacky combo but it doesn't look too garish... I hope.


This is the front page. I specially got the yellow foam letters (made with love, plaza sing) for this project and I really like the font and the sunny look.

It's the first time I've incorporated 'tags' into my project and I just wanted to make it simple so stamped a script stamp onto it in brown or black and overlay with a key stamp.

Close up for 1st page:

All the key, heart and lock chipboard bought at made with love, it comes with a free foil included and turns out quite nice, though I would prefer to paint them.

I like this quote... almost covered up by the yellow letters...
All the bling and pearls can be bought at those handphone accessory shops. Usually 3 for $10. And they don't fall off easily, using the original glue, I did not add additional glue. It really stays on once you paste it down.


2nd page and my favorite!
The flower paper is embellished with the flat bobbles and gloss accents, tag with letter 'a', butterfly sticker, chipboard frame which I painted over (was black, comes in other colors from the art republic, velocity) the paint using tattered angels 'glimmer glam'. The paints are pricey! So I only bought one color... it has glitter and shimmer sheen which I felt it was worth it for the additional depth. Well... I also like to use the pretty lace and overlay a row of pearls on it... seems to match. This is for hiding the cut lines between using 2 pieces of paper - wanted the 'love' words to be in the middle so the side has to have some other paper (the sea-green with cursive words is another paper entirely!)

I like this lace - old traditional craft shop at serangoon bus interchange, sells both lace and pearls and rope and a hundred different nice ribbons! It's nice to use to cover the different paper joint lines which is my pet peeve.


Decided to stick the small pearl ribbon here like a woman wearing a ribbon clip... hee... it's found at those handphone shops also. Maybe I will deck out my blackberry with all the leftover bling soon...idea! I find all the colors go together so well!



On this tag, a letter 'a', with pretty pinkish pearls all around.

Final page. I will attempt making more pages for my next project...For those who are wondering, the photos can be pasted on the other side which I've covered with yellow vintage look paper. So it can hold either 3 normal sized photos or 6 mini photos at least. As this is a simple design I pasted the flat bobbles all round for a more interesting look, lucky it doesn't look too baby-ish. Also used buttons! Random buttons! I now have quite a large collection of buttons.


Love the mini-flowers. Can't find in any scrapbook shop. My secret. Hee... I did give some to those who ask... it shall be received... haha...

The most painstaking part was to measure and cut the paper, sand the edges (using nail file black side or can buy a square sander from scrapbook shop.) Then the chipboard I painted with the same brown paint. It looks nicer than gray chipboard.




Front and back of album project.
I'm going to attempt a travel album project next. Or some sort. These chipboard from novena the art republic, it's cheap-er. But it was all sold out last week when I popped by.

Also in the midst of making a special project - envelope holder, one for me as well! I've almost completed it but not sure whether I should add some words.

Here's the 'before' look! Yes it's those beauty brand 'giveaway with purchase' and I had to buy it but it was dirt-cheap so... I bought two. Plus I like this color very much. It fits my perfume bottle perfectly...

created

The antithesis of the matter.

Treading a thin line between idealism and realism.

My ex-colleague and current lunch buddy Huntley, whom I'm possibly going to write for, always has this encouraging factor in him that makes discussing serious topics over lunch such a breeze.

Because there is money in Corporates, he always urges me to try Marketing or Creative Strategies in Banks like Citi, HSBC, Merril L. While I do suit or can adapt to corporates, Life's a stage after all, I can learn to walk in heels, I can learn to stay cool in power suits, I can learn to talk to directors and haughtily eyeball lowly interns... wait, I've done that before.

Why, why not.
You can imagine that the creative ideas I have that WILL work for the Banks, those ground-breaking, new, unheard of and possibly life-changing ideas, will be passed from board to board and up and down until the idea becomes watered down, withered, having no semblance to the originator's original idea. Although I recently read that 'originality has become the litmus test of strategy', I also know brillant writers who are inadept in social environs. They churn out pieces of sheer genius but seem to be weirded out in other aspects. (Or perhaps we are the ones who are weird.) Or perhaps having no friends manufactures their introspectivity into a higher realm of creative juicing.

So instead of having the bright bold passion to infuse old-school Corporates with new ideas, which will not translate into reality, and will get creative/conceptual types depressed, which will tranlate to us being misunderstood, hurt, critical creatures,

I stick to what I'm good at, a mish-mash of biz and design. I can't do totally biz, primarily because I'd daydream most of the time. I can't do totally design, I hate working indoors, I love meeting The People, The Sun, and Starbucks on Friday afternoons.

When people ask me what do I exactly do, I am at a loss for words, currently saying "In a startup I do everything really", but watching videos online is an important part of my daily routine now. And I'm starting to love it, the previous me who a year ago never could stand anything to do with computers.

Reality bites, but I prefer not to have my hopes and dreams dashed by fat men in suits and ties who only think about money and not much else.

keyed - a tribute

Have decided to post up a dear friend's photos here. He is very much alive and kicking by the way!

(This was during the time I was trigger happy and my Lumix was still working fine.)

Mostly not seen by anyone except me before, whoo hoo, here is Kie like you have never seen him before!!

Kie, a kindly friend who is single but has high expectations, like all my other single and approaching 30-male counterparts... (I also have high expectations. 'High'... geddit? Lol.)


Kie, 25y. The church camp. First time ever they held it in Thailand we were all raring to go! I remember the group of young adults at that time wanted to jetski, so me and Kie went to 'rackey' the price... Kie looked like Thai so they told him a low price but when they saw the big group of Singaporeans they upped it immediately. Haha. Was quite touched when he offered to go together with me on the jetski - I can't swim - but I decided to bravely face the waters myself! And...I can say that I've canoed (without a life jacket) in Malaysian open seas when I was 12 (and I can't swim!) and I've jetskied on my own, hooray!!!


Later in the same year, AHM. I went to a few runs that year to support all my friends and also to train myself should I have a husband who runs (That year I believed I would) - have to wake like 5 am on a beautiful sunday?!!...Well, this is taken after the race. Kie did not really train and was slightly sick so we were worried that he would pass out but he managed to complete it!


Kie when he was 26...woo. Church event - sports day thingy. It was the era of him always wearing soccer jerseys and bermudas plus the loveable 'no-need-gel' floppy hair which attributes to his droolsome factor!


We were in a committee meeting, this is at the now obsolete Carepoint - a branch of our church. Me and Kie used to partner quite frequently in church events - nice to work with such an easy going guy.


End of the year we had a cell christmas party which was a whooping success, about 40 people in total turned up and quite a few stayed on till this day, I had this idea of using a 'christmas round the world theme' - and had my friend's lovely Balmoral condo. We also had a fancy dress 'hat' theme - explains my witch hat and his pirate hat. (Kie has this photo in his wallet... hee)


Back in those days when I am soooo creative... here's a spoof on the very popular ipod theme when it first came out. I used Kie's very distinguishable 'silhouette' and some of the other Church people whom this campaign was targeted at. If you ask me how I did it... I think I had lots of time then, because each rendering took at least an hour, plus the photo taking. Was quite difficult to get the silhouettes looking right, a different angle and the person would look warped. But I like the challenge and I was glad the poster wowed everyone. If I had time I would do more stuff like this.


The final poster. I loved it. Spot me? About the design, I usually design stuff with very grayish and neutral undertones, prefer to use brights as highlights rather than main colors; but this was the first time I experimented with such bright hues - note the title...Yet, I think it didn't come across as childish -or a kids' event, which I was afraid of it turning out that way. Really happy with the outcome. It had a fresh appeal at that point of time with the ipod mania 2 years ago.